“Unimpressed. Stern. Silent.” Thus spake those who claim to have beheld the dread countenance of the late Queen Elizabeth, whose spirit is said to have appeared within the hallowed halls of Buckingham. And lo! Her ghostly gaze fell upon Prince William as he did lower a humble biscuit into his cup of tea. Was this but a vision? Or a warning from realms beyond, that the law of royal etiquette is eternal, and not even death may silence it?
The Apparition at Tea
It is told that upon a quiet afternoon, within the gilded chambers where footmen served Earl Grey and the corgis slumbered, there sat Prince William with a plate of sweetmeats. Then, without sound nor draft, the figure of the Queen did glide forth, as though Coronation Day had returned in spectral guise.
Witnesses whisper she was clad in her pearls, bearing her sovereign posture, though her form was as glass, both there and not there. “It was Her Majesty,” quoth one trembling servant, “only wrought of mist and memory.”
The Royal Rebuke
Yet more fearsome than her appearing was the manner of her gaze. For when William, heir to the throne, did dip his biscuit into the steaming tea, the spirit’s visage grew grim. Her lips drew tight; her eyes, once kind, became as cold steel. “’Twas the same look,” spake an attendant, “that she once cast upon tardy ministers of state.”
So piercing was her silent rebuke that servants quailed as though before a judgment seat. Even bereft of flesh, she commanded the room entire.
Panic in the Palace
The household was shaken as by thunder. Butlers tarried long ere they dared return to the tea room. A maid swooned, claiming she heard the faint chiming of a cup lifted by no mortal hand. Guard-captains are said to have searched the chamber and looked upon the seeing-stones of their cameras, yet no image hath been released to mortal eyes.
The Reactions of the Blood Royal
Of the royal kin, each spake in turn. Prince William, with mirth, jested: “If Grandmother still watcheth my manners, then verily it is the most English haunting of them all.”
Princess Catherine, gentle of heart, did comfort the trembling, saying, “Take this as a sign of love, not of dread.”
But King Charles, grave of countenance, murmured only: “Our line hath ever borne a peculiar bond with tradition.”
Whence Came This Shade?
Learned men of spirits dispute among themselves. Some hold that the Queen returneth to guard the old ways, that courtesy and ceremony perish not. Others say she is bound to the Palace by weight of duty and crown, unable to forsake the place of her reign. A few whisper that she tarries until the sceptre is firm in the grasp of the next generation.
Yet skeptics scoff, crying it is naught but weary servants, flickering light, and tea over-steeped.
The Legend Grows
Be it truth or phantasm, the tale hath flown swift through London. Pilgrims gather at the Palace gates, yearning for a glimpse of the Ghost Queen. The tongues of the people wag in taverns and in markets, weaving ever greater wonder. Some foretell that even in the shadowed realm, Her Majesty will not release her hold upon her beloved rite of afternoon tea.
And so it is written: the Queen’s spirit endureth, and even from the grave she commandeth biscuits, teacups, and the hearts of her kingdom.
